Skip to content Walking in God's Light: 1 John 1-2 Dec 8 · 14 min ...more
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Family Research Council is serving in the kingdom of God by championing faith, family, & freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview.
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Introduction to Fellowship in the Light 0:10 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word as we turn to John's first epistle. We're gonna look at first John chapters 1 and 2 today. Verses verse 18 of chapter 2. Little children, it is the last hour.0:21 And as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come by which we know it is the last hour. Well, that has relevance to us today.0:33 Well, this letter was written by the apostle John. It's considered to be a general letter to the churches because there's no specific reference to an individual or to a specific congregation. Now most0:45 scholars date this letter to the early nineties. Its central theme is the light of God and our call to walk in that light. And and and from that light, in that fellowship with God comes unity0:57 and clarity for living. Now as we've seen in many of the other New Testament books, in fact, almost all of them, John includes a sober warning about false prophets and their deceptive1:09 teaching. So by this point, the church is about 70 years old, and various attempts have emerged, to blend the teachings of Christ with other religious or philosophical systems. And and John1:21 writes to confront that drift to make clear that a person cannot cannot walk in both light and darkness. Alright? You can't do it at the same time. Alright. Beginning verse 1,1:33 chapter 1, that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled concerning the words of life. Now I've shared this quote before I1:43 concerning the words of life. Now I've shared this quote before. I heard and I forgot. I saw and I remembered. I did and I understood. And to understand the word of life, we must hear it, we must read1:55 it, and then we must do it. We must be totally engaged. Verse 2, the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal2:07 life, which was with the father and was manifested to us, that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us. And truly,2:19 our fellowship is with the father and with his son, Jesus Christ. Now put a pen right here in verse in verse 3 because I'm gonna come back to to something here that I think is a very significant truth that is suddenly2:30 woven throughout John's letter. Maybe not so subtle, but I'm gonna pull it out and and emphasize it here in just a moment. Verse 4, and these things we write to you that your joy may be full. Now2:43 what was the purpose of John writing this to the churches? So that they might have the fullness of joy. Now don't miss this. If you were a follower of Jesus Christ and you're2:55 consistently without joy, and that doesn't mean we're not gonna have our ups and downs, but if you're consistently without joy, something's not right. Regardless of our temporary circumstances, God's plan for us3:06 is to have abiding joy. Remember what John, recorded in his gospel when Jesus was warning his disciples about what was to come, the difficulties3:18 that were ahead. He said well, let me just read it. Verse 33 of chapter 16 of John says, these things I have spoken to you that in me, you might have peace. In the world, you'll have tribulation, but be of good cheer.3:30 I have overcome the world. Alright. So in Christ, even though we have difficulties, we still have the opportunity to walk in the abundant life with peace and with3:42 joy. Verse 5, this is the message which we have heard from him and declared you, that god is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowshipWalking in Light: Confession and Obedience 3:54 with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. See, man's default position is darkness. That's the fallen nature of man. Again, borrowing from John's gospel in John 1 5,4:06 it says, and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. Why? Because they didn't like it. John 3 19. And this is the condemnation that the light has come into the4:18 world, and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. But when we come to know the lord, we come out of the darkness and into4:30 the light. Verse 7. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with 1 another. And the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we4:42 deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Now to do this, we must acknowledge and confess our sin. Look at verse 9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to4:54 forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. Now don't don't miss this ironclad5:06 promise. If we if we confess, he forgives. But it doesn't stop there. He purifies. He sanctifies. He consecrates so that we5:17 can serve him again. Sin will put us on the sidelines, but confession puts us back into the game. Verse 1 of chapter 2, my little children, these things I write to you so that you may not5:29 sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ, the righteous, And he himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the5:41 whole world. Jesus died for the whole world. That if we'd simply place our faith in him, the grace that was displayed by god, by sending his son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for us, we5:53 can be the recipients of the grace that God displayed by sending Jesus Christ to die on the cross,6:05 be buried and be raised again, and he becomes he becomes our redeemer. Now now by this we know that we know him if we keep his commandments. He who says I know him and6:17 does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this, we know that we are in him. Now once again, we see6:29 this connection between love and obedience, but this is not just talking about the 10 commandments. When we talk about commandments, we immediately go to the 10 commandments. The 10 commandments were a restatement of the6:37 moral law that was written on the hearts of men that had been covered up because of sin. It had been, our calloused hearts moved us away from that, and so God revealed that moral law in the6:49 10 commandments. But Jesus really is the fruit of the spirit. It is the call to live in the kingdom. So we we see this that that Christianity is,7:01 is is it's faith, it's it's it's it's love, it's obedience. Christianity is not a philosophy. Okay? It's not a philosophy. It's not an intellectual ascent. It is a7:13 relationship with our creator, and we express our love by our obedience to him. Verse 6, he who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk just as he walked.7:25 Now we've seen this before. We should be imitating Jesus. He is our model. He is our example. Verse 7, brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you had from the7:37 beginning. The old commandment is the word which you have heard from the beginning. And, again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true7:47 light is already shining. Now let's go back to, to that verse in chapter 1 that I I said let's put a pin in. In verse 9, we see this thread that runs7:59 throughout the entire epistle that John is writing here. It's in verse 7 of chapter 1, and here it is, in chapter 2, and we're gonna see it again in chapter 3 verse 9. He who says he is in8:11 the light and hates his brother is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. You see, unity, love8:23 among the brethren is evidence of and achieved by a relationship with Jesus Christ. We cannot walk in true unity and love with those in the world as we willLove, Overcoming the World, and Warnings 8:35 just read in a minute. But if we if we, do not love fellow followers of Christ and we're not able to dwell in unity with other believers, then8:47 we have to question whether or not we're walking in the light. You see, our relationship with Jesus is evidenced by our love for fellow Christians. It's8:59 also the it's it's the ability to love them too. We can't love them on our own. We just can't do it. But it comes to our relationship with Christ, so that is evidence that we're in relationship with9:10 him. Verse 14, I have written to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning, I have written you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you9:22 have overcome the wicked 1. So how is it that we overcome the wicked 1? It is the word of God. Verse 15, do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of father is not9:34 in him. See what's I was just saying, we cannot have that unity and that fellowship, that love with the world. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of9:45 the father, but of the world, which is from Satan. And the world is passing away and the lust of it, but he who does the will of the father abides forever.9:57 So what you treasure will be where your heart is focused. We can't love the world and the things of this life and claim to love god and his kingdom. You can't do both.10:09 Now this next portion, this next portion of the passage moves us into the apostasy that was taking place that John was writing about. Verse 18, little children, it is the last hour. And as10:21 you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many many antichrist have come by which we know that it is the last hour. I have not written to you, this is verse 21, I have not written you because you do not know10:33 the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar, but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ. He is the antichrist who denies the father and the10:45 son. So this is the acid test of what is true. Alright. Whoever denies the son does not have the father either. He who acknowledges this as a son has the father10:56 also. If if you refuse to recognize Jesus Christ, that he is the son of God, the redeemer of mankind, then then you are not in the light. Verse 26, these things I have written11:08 to you concerning those who try to deceive you. You see, he's written this he's given us this. The word of God as a whole is this is to be our11:20 anchor, to keep us from from drifting and to be from being carried away by false teaching. Verse 27. But the anointing which you have received from him abides in you, and you11:32 do not need that anyone teach you. But as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in him.11:44 So be wary of the so called teachers who claim to reveal hidden truths to you. Alright? You have the holy spirit. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, if you have11:56 accepted Jesus Christ as your lord and savior, you have the holy spirit who reveals the truth of God based on his word, and that leads us into an understanding of God.12:08 And as we walk in the light of God and his word, we walk in the abundant life. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you that, we can12:20 know the truth. We can walk in the light. And I pray, father, that we would not be deceived, but we would be anchored by your word, and that, lord, we would as your word promises, we would not be overcome by12:32 evil, but we'll overcome it by standing firm upon your truth and upon your word. And so, father, continue to guide us on this journey. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright. Thanks for joining me this morning. Let mePrayer and Call to Daily Bible Engagement 12:44 remind you, we're coming up to the end of this journey. And the lord willing, we're gonna begin it again in January with Genesis. But I wanna invite you to join me again. And so I'm gonna ask you to do12:56 this. You may be planning on joining anyway because, you know, just being in the word every day just has I mean, it just has transformational effect upon our lives. It encourages us. It strengthens13:08 us. It helps us to understand what's happening in the world around us. So I wanna ask you to do this, text the word bible to 6 7 7 4 2. That's bible to 6 7 7 4 2. You'll get a link. You must13:19 sign up just so we know, you're gonna be on the journey this next time. And also, we can send you some resources because we've got some new resources coming out for this next journey. And I wanna ask you to invite a13:30 friend to join you on this journey. There's a share button there on that site where you sign up. So I would encourage you and ask you to invite someone else to join us on this journey. Alright. Until next13:42 time, keep standing on the word.13:47 Today's study comes from the stand on the word bible reading plan available for free at f r c dot o r g slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you13:59 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at f r c dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 Introduction to Fellowship in the Light3:43 Walking in Light: Confession and Obedience8:34 Love, Overcoming the World, and Warnings12:37 Prayer and Call to Daily Bible Engagement
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